And Then He Came
by Always AoM
Summary: It's all happening seemingly too fast for Christine: the engagement party, the impending marriage to Raoul, leaving the opera and her angel; who's not really an angel at all... Perhaps, everything will work out for the best. Until Christine turns up missi
1. Default Chapter

And Then He Came  
Always AoM  
  
  
Song 1: A Little Night Music  
  
She placed a delicate, gloved hand over her mouth, stifling a yawn. Her gaze, weary, as she looked upon the wealthy elite enjoying themselves, delighting in the splendid sights and sounds, without any cares or worries. This was to be her engagement party, yet all Christine could think of was far from this place, deep within the bowels of another.  
  
Startled back from her reverie suddenly, she found herself in the arms of her fiancé, unsure of just how she had gotten there.  
  
"Enjoying yourself, my dearest?" His voice was soft and warm, as beautiful to her ears, as was his face handsome to her eyes. His boyish grin, elicited a fond smile from his bride to be.  
  
"I..." She wanted so badly to tell him what she knew he wanted to hear, but she felt she needed to be honest with him. "Not as much as I should be, but more so now that you are beside me, Raoul."  
  
"And why not, Christine? This party is our announcement to all of Paris that we are finally going to be wed." Unsure of what was going through her mind, his smile faltered a bit. "This is what you wanted, isn't it?"  
  
A little too quickly. "Of course it is." She looked into the deep blue, reflective pools of his eyes, the color all too similar to her own, searching for something she couldn't quite find. "I think I just need some air."  
  
"I'll go with you. It's a lovely night, the air is warm, and you can feel the summer approaching on the breeze."  
  
She had already left his side, and he was moving to catch up to her, when she turned back to face him. "No, thank you, Raoul. I think I need a moment to myself." She could tell the disappointment scrawled across his refined features. She hated to make him feel of so little importance to her, when, in fact, he was her whole world. "But I do hope you will spare a moment to meet me in the garden at midnight, my love?"  
  
That made up for all of it. His smile was once again beaming as bright as when he had first come to her. He nodded his approval. She smiled, relieved that he had consented, and kissed him sweetly on his lips. "I love you, Raoul. I promise I won't be too long."  
  
He took up one of her hands in his own and brushed a kiss upon her palm. "I love you, too, Christine. Hurry back, my love."  
  
@}-}----------  
  
Once out in the garden, she released a sigh. Raoul's mansion shone brilliantly from its golden silhouette in the full moon's light. Her steps where light, where as she felt so heavy with all her skirts and trim. Her long black hair fell in soft curls down her back to the small of her waist. Her light skin seamed to glow an eerie white, quite a contrast to the deep burgundy of her velvet dress and the blackness of the shadows.  
  
She had managed to make her way to the very end of the large span of land that was referred to as The Four Rose Quarters. The reasoning behind it's title, were the four rather large, rather grand, statues of goddesses carrying baskets of the most detailed roses anyone had ever seen. The mansion, now half its original size from this new distance, was no longer a threat to her.  
  
She took a deep breath and felt herself settle upon one of the marble benches nearest one of the goddesses. "If only I knew this was the answer..." She half mumbled the statement to herself. She didn't understand how she could be so sure of her love for Raoul one moment and then be so unsure the next. She knew she loved him, so why did the marriage frighten her so much? Perhaps leaving the theatre was what kept nagging at her heart. Or, perhaps, it was leaving...  
  
A rustling in the bushes next to her made her jump. She stood just in time to see a squirrel run out from under one of the bushes and into another nearby. She closed her eyes and exhaled, fear had made her heart race and she was afraid she might faint. Before she could open her eyes, she felt a hand close over her mouth, a rushed whisper telling her not to scream, then darkness. 


	2. Song 2: A Shadow in the Mist

And Then He Came  
Always AoM  
  
  
Song 2: A Shadow in the Mist  
  
From the darkness, he watched her tortured sleep, saw her small figure stir and sit suddenly upright at, what he guessed was, the realization of her all too familiar surroundings. Her eyes grew wide with fear and it was almost as if he could sense the inevitable tears that were to come from that realization. He drew back deeper into the darkness when she called out to her unseen captor.  
  
"Why have you brought me here?" Her gaze, fearful, as she looked around frantically for someone known, yet unknown, to her. "Where are you? I know you are here... Angel..?" She placed her hand quickly over her mouth, as if she had made a terrible mistake.  
  
"Of course I am here, Christine." He moved soundlessly through the shadow-ways of his night world, making sure that she would not see him just yet. "I am always here. It is my accursed fate." His voice surrounded her from all angles, confusing her senses. She found herself in a make-shift bed of variously shaded silk comforters, in the middle of what seemed to be a rather large room. At first she had thought this to be his music room, now she realized she had not recalled the proper room, for this was one she had never been in before.  
  
Her burgundy dress was awkwardly wrapped around her legs, she guessed from her tossing and turning in her sleep. Her shoes were still fairly intact and her hair was in slight disarray. Her heart was in turmoil as she took a deep breath and another glance about the strange room. Isn't this what she had wanted, what seemed to be, just moments ago? Moments. A moment. The garden. Her voice broke, "Raoul."  
  
"No need to worry about him now, my dear. Though I am sure it is troubling him quite some bit, that you never showed up for your quaint little garden rendezvous." His words reflecting her thoughts perfectly. The tears finally fell down her cheeks in little streams that glistened in the candle light.  
  
He moved from the shadows then and into the dim lighting of a dozen or so candles that were scattered about like tiny, twinkling stars amidst the hollow blackness. His cape flared brilliantly about him with even the slightest movement, drawing her attention to the power he seemed to hold over everything here. Even with his graceful movements as a distraction, she could not help but fix her gaze on the immaculate white mask that covered the right side of his face. That mask, which had forever haunted her dreams, and nightmares alike, and would continue to long after this night had ended. If it would ever end...  
  
"You never answered my question..." Her tears had stopped, but her voice was still breaking with emotions that continued to swirl through her. "Why am I here?"   
  
Simply, "Because you wanted to be."  
  
@}-}------  
  
"I don't understand what has happened to her." Raoul looked sickly white, his grief greatly apparent on his usually calm features as he paced the main entry way confiding his fears in the only person he knew he could turn to. "Do you think it was him? Has he stolen her again?" When he finally did sit down, it seemed that he crumpled into the unexpecting chair with such a swift movement, that he may have fallen out of it, had his company not steadied him. He was now in silent tears. "I just don't know what I am to do! She means the world to me and he continues to take her from me, Nadir." 


End file.
